Helos stood in front of the guild’s entrance, tilting her head to look up at the heavy door, which was covered with various metal badges and sword scratches.
Above the door hung a weathered wooden sign, carved in bold letters:
【Adventurers’ Guild · Olivia Branch】
“So this is the Adventurers’ Guild?”
Under her hood, Helos blinked, her pale violet eyes shimmering with curiosity. “It looks a lot more run-down than I imagined.”
Julius stood beside her, his black uniform making him appear especially upright in the sunlight.
He reached out and pushed open the door, the wooden hinges creaking loudly:
“Don’t be fooled by the outside, it’s quite lively in there.”
- Bang!
As the door swung open, a wooden tankard flew past Julius’s nose, smashing heavily against the wall behind him, spilling ale all over the floor.
“Hey! Who threw that?!”
“Hahaha! Sorry, newbie!”
The noisy clamor of the guild hall instantly flooded Helos’s ears.
Her eyes widened as the scene before her left her momentarily dazed.
The hall was packed with all sorts of adventurers — dwarves wielding giant axes, elves carrying longbows on their backs, and muscular humans with bulging arms.
The air was thick with the mixed scents of ale, roasted meat, and sweat; wooden tables were piled high with empty mugs and leftover bones.
In one corner, a bard plucked at a harp, singing a tuneless ballad.
Elsewhere, a group of mercenaries clustered around a table, tossing dice while gold coins clattered across the wood.
To be honest, the young girl felt this place matched her impression of what an adventurer’s guild should look like.
It was just that after spending so many years inside the Duke’s Mansion, where the maids were always meticulous and kept every corner spotless,
the messiest place in the entire mansion was probably her own workshop.
But compared to here, her workshop was likely just dust and explosion marks in excess.
Plus, having hardly ever stepped outside over the years, she felt a bit out of touch with places like this.
Helos instinctively shrank back behind Julius. “Can serious commissions really be posted in a place like this?”
Julius sighed helplessly:
“You’ll get used to it.”
He had been to the Adventurers’ Guild a few times before, but only on official business with the Saint Knights.
This was his first time coming here personally to post a commission.
He reached out to steady Helos by the shoulder and led her through the crowded crowd.
A few drunken adventurers spotted them and whistled:
“Yo! Where did the young master and young miss come from? Lost?”
“Hey, look at that uniform, he’s with the church — a Saint Knight, right?”
“What’s a Saint Knight doing here? Hunting wanted criminals?”
“Ah~ I know! It must be because you got caught confessing to a nun secretly last time! They sent people to catch you!”
“Bullshit! I never confessed!”
Helos sighed:
“Why are these people so noisy…”
Julius ignored the surrounding jabs and led her straight to the commission counter at the far end of the hall.
“We have to be quick. The longer you stay, the more your Ability will flare up again.”
“Oh, right. We really should hurry.”
Behind the counter sat a middle-aged woman wearing a monocle, buried in writing.
Her hair was neatly pinned up at the back, and a copper badge gleamed on her chest — the mark of a guild attendant.
“Hello.”
Julius cleared his throat. “We’d like to post a commission.”
The attendant didn’t even look up:
“Fill out a form.”
She pushed over a yellowed piece of parchment and a quill.
Helos tiptoed and leaned over the counter, curiously studying the form:
“Uh… how do I write the commission details?”
“Just write that you need Bloodstanch Vine and Silverdew Grass collected.”
Julius whispered a reminder, “Amount… write fifty jin each for now.”
Helos pinched the quill and slowly wrote down the details. “What about the payment?”
The attendant finally looked up, pushing her glasses up her nose.
Julius and Helos exchanged a glance.
Helos scratched her cheek. “How much do these kinds of commissions usually pay?”
The attendant sighed, as if used to novices who had no idea about market prices:
“Bloodstanch Vine goes for 60 Soli per jin, and Silverdew Grass around 30 Soli per jin. Gathering commissions usually pay 70% of the market price.
“The guild charges a 10% fee on the total price.”
She quickly did the math:
“A total of 3,465 Soli.”
“Not cheap…”
Helos mumbled softly as she looked at the quote.
Before Julius could respond, a drunken voice interrupted from nearby:
“Little sister~ If you think that’s expensive, why not team up with us? We’ll gather it for free~”
A flushed mercenary swayed forward, waving his tankard, the smell of alcohol making Helos recoil.
“No, thank you.”
Julius calmly stepped in front of Helos, his arm muscles tensing slightly under the black uniform.
He turned to the attendant: “Please proceed with the official commission process.”
The woman raised an eyebrow and scrawled the amount on the parchment:
“Complete within three days? If you want it expedited, it’ll cost extra.”
Julius nodded.
After receiving confirmation, the woman suddenly lowered her voice:
“By the way, I recommend adding a level requirement.”
Her eyes glanced meaningfully at the rowdy mercenaries. “Although high-level teams usually don’t take these tasks, it’ll at least prevent rookies from spoiling the herbs.”
“Makes sense.”
The young man was momentarily stunned, then instinctively looked at Helos. “What do you think, Miss?”
“Ah… that’s fine.”
After thinking it over, Helos nodded slightly, agreeing with the suggestion. “Since this is a bit of a trial, it’s better to ensure the herbs’ effectiveness.”
“Then, add a 5% deposit… that’ll make it 3,600 Soli.”
“Eh? More money?”
“Of course.”
Helos’s gaze shifted to Julius, looking at him with innocent eyes.
“It’s not like it’s a lot.”
The youth sighed, pulled a coin pouch from his waist, and handed several gold coins to the attendant. “Thank you.”
With a loud “thud,” the stamp dropped, and the commission was officially activated.
The attendant rolled up the parchment and hung it on the commission board on the wall.
Almost immediately, a dozen eyes turned sharply toward the newly posted commission.
“All right,”
Julius gently tugged Helos’s sleeve. “We should go.”
He bent close to her ear and quietly pointed to the people around them. “Quite a few are already pale-faced.”
“Your Ability really is powerful.”
“Enough talk, let’s hurry.”
Helos covered her face, helpless. “If we don’t leave soon, a disaster’s going to happen.”
Just as they stepped out of the Adventurers’ Guild doors, a shout made them stop unconsciously:
“Hey~ miss up ahead~”
“We’re taking your commission with our team~!”
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